It’s Maple Sugar Time!

If you have never tasted the sap right out of a maple tree, it is a treat you will not soon forget.  Maple syrup is made from boiling the sap to remove the water.  Nothing is added when making “real” maple syrup.  It just takes a lot of sap and a lot of boiling.  Forty gallons of sap make only one gallon of syrup.  But it is worth it! 

In her book "Sugartime; The Hidden Pleasures of Making Maple Syrup with a Primer for the Novice Sugarer" (664.132 H376), Susan Carol Hauser describes waiting for that sweet drop straight from the tree, “Anticipation is rewarded… a drop of sap quivers on the lip of the spile…I watch the clear bead gather strength and let go…as another takes its place.”

You don’t have to be an official “Maple Sugar Farmer” or have a whole Sugar Bush of maple trees.  Anyone with a single maple tree can enjoy tapping a tree. "Backyard Sugarin’; A Complete How-To Guide" (664.132 M282) describes the whole process that this author used. Now, however, it is easy to purchase supplies that will help simplify things for a beginner.

"The Maple Syrup Book" (664.132 E11) presents a historical perspective and shows how maple syrup is made with beautiful photographs.   The golden syrup in the photographs looks good enough to eat!

If the eating part is what you are after, there are many recipes for using the natural sugars of the maple tree.  Even the Native Americans discovered the joy of favoring food this way. 

"In a Vermont Kitchen" by Lyon (641.5974 L991)

"Very Maple Syrup" by Thompson (641.636 T473)

Children find the process fascinating and bubble over with excitement when they finally get to taste the final product.  There are several books that describe the process at a child’s level.

"Maple Syrup" by Stone (J633.64 S878)

"Maple Syrup Book" by Linton (J633.64 L761)

"Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen (J Sorensen) is a classic  in children’s literature and a Newbery Award Winner that takes place on a maple sugar farm.  It is the touching story of a father who has returned home from war to his family, but has a hard time adjusting and is often moody and tired.  The family decides to move into Grandma’s old house in the country – hoping for a miracle.  Their new neighbor, Mr. Chris, shares the miracle of the first sap in the maple trees and the hard work required to make the syrup.  The beauty and power of the natural world begin to rejuvenate the father and the family as a whole.